Characterization of ultrathin SiO 2/Si interface grown by low temperature plasma oxidation

Ultrathin SiO 2 layers on Si (100) wafers were prepared by plasma oxidation at a low temperature (250℃). The analyses of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and TEM reveal that the chemical composition of the oxide layer is stoichiometric SiO 2 and the SiO 2/Si interface is abrupt. The thickness of the ultrathin oxide layer obtained from XPS, capacitance-voltage (C-V) and ellipsometry measurements indicate a nonlinear time dependence. The high frequency C-V characterization of MOS structure shows that the fixed charge density in SiO 2 film is about 10 11 cm -2 . It is also shown that the strength of breakdown electrical field of SiO 2 film with 6 nm thickness is of the order of 10 6 Vcm -1 . These properties of the ultrathin SiO 2 layer ensure its application in silicon quantum devices.